My pricing complaint for the day

I just have to say that I'm sick of hearing people talk about how cheap this bakery or that bakery is, when I know that they lure people in with low prices then slap a $100 delivery fee on every cake. That's just straight-up lying, if you ask me. And even if you don't agree with that, it's totally false advertising if you expect to make up your undercharging for a cake on the delivery end. The undercharging really chaps me because it depresses the entire market and makes people think that they can get whatever they want for $1 a serving.

Also, the people who are starting up and have photos that are obviously dummies mixed in with photos of the cakes they've done. How do I know they're dummies? They're the only ones on their websites that don't look like a monkey iced them, and they're the only ones that aren't leaning. Everyone starts with some photos of display cakes, people, but don't do the design on a dummy and advertise it like you can do it on real cake if you can't.

i keep looking at other cake business websites and then find myself saying 'that's a dummy cake!' or 'oh that ones real cause you can see the bumps' lol

Some I've seen I've had such a shock and cant believe anyone would order off them looking at the poor job they've done, I even wonder why they would put such bad cake photos on their site hoping to attract new customers

I do think its wrong to have nearly all dummy cakes on your website unless you can deliver the same standard on a real cake with its not so perfect shape.

And photos purchased from iStockphoto, which don't resemble even remotely, their real cakes. I think the customer should be sharp enough to pick up on the false advertising, but sometimes they aren't. I feel bad when someone genuinely gets duped, rather than "gets what they paid for", because they were being cheap.

It's the same thing in my area. It's like the plague of stupidity.I see that even on here, which is shocking, for the pricing and the dummy/real cake issue.How much more information can people have at their fingertips and refuse to ignore it.

Rant #2 -- But wait.....no one commented on my picture, I'm going to start a thread about it. The 4th thread I've started in 2 months about the same darn thing. Then everyone who doesn't know any better about my insane tendencies will come and yell at the people who are calling me out. It's the perfect plan. I'll look like the victim and they will look horrid....ahahahaha *rubs hands together*.

Rant #2 -- But wait.....no one commented on my picture, I'm going to start a thread about it. The 4th thread I've started in 2 months about the same darn thing. Then everyone who doesn't know any better about my insane tendencies will come and yell at the people who are calling me out. It's the perfect plan. I'll look like the victim and they will look horrid....ahahahaha *rubs hands together*.

No, go ahead and comment on photos. We all start somewhere and the support can be helpful. I just get ticked when someone starts a thread something like:I've had 10 views of my photo and not one comment yet, is it that bad?

Well either they don't tend to comment or they are following the golden rule of if you can't say anything nice, don't say it at all.*I don't follow that rule always, sometimes the truth needs to be said*Life is not always rainbows and puppy dogs.

Rant #2 -- But wait.....no one commented on my picture, I'm going to start a thread about it. The 4th thread I've started in 2 months about the same darn thing. Then everyone who doesn't know any better about my insane tendencies will come and yell at the people who are calling me out. It's the perfect plan. I'll look like the victim and they will look horrid....ahahahaha *rubs hands together*.

They do make me laugh, I'm over the moon if people have taken the time and effort just to view my cakes! If they comment even better but I wouldn't go begging for comments

Costumeczar~ I'm in agreement with you. Also, bakers who complain that their customers want cheap prices, yet th baker/cakers are constantly undercutting fellow area bakers. You can't complain no one wants to pay higher prices, if you are listing RIDICULOUS prices. If you're willing to charge WALMART prices, your work obviously must reflect that or you'd charge more. No? Just because it's not a wedding cake, doesn't mean you should screw over every other hard working, talented baker... Sorry, this jsut reminded me of something.

when I know that they lure people in with low prices then slap a $100 delivery fee on every cake.

I actually made up a comparison sheet showing my flat pricing and then compared it to the "nickel and dime" pricing of the other guys, including their delivery fee.

A $100 delivery fee, for a cake to serve 100 people, breaks down to $1 a person on TOP OF the normal cake-serving price.

I'm at work and can't access my blog (I guess "blogspot" is one of the sites they blocked from us! ) or I'd give you the link to the one I wrote about this very topic, where I broke it down for 'em.

But when someone would tell me how this other place was $0.75 cheaper than mine, but add in a $100 delivery, it was fun to watch their face as I said, "Hmmmmm .... that adds another $1 per person to their price."

I agree! I recently overheard one of my competitors tell a bride they can beat any price that I offer. Well, I was floored to hear that! I beleive your work and the taste of your product is what you should be pushing.

I tell customers upfront that I am not the cheapest, but I'm the best at what I do! I will try to work within their budget when possible, but there are times when I cannot help them

Yep, Im at the point when people think Im too high I tell them to go ahead and go elsewhere. Im not about to work for free and if they think the other people are cheaper than so be it. Had a tasting a few weeks ago and she had a guest list of $200. I gave her my price and she was shocked. She said "I didnt expect it to be over $300?" Really? You cant even go to Walmart and buy cake for $200 people for that price!!!

I had another customer last year that didnt want to pay me so went to someone else that said they could "beat my pricing". Well she came back to me a few months later and said it was the worst cake that they had ever ate and the design was nothing that they wanted. Their other daughter was getting married and wanted me to do her cake. Yep, got what you paid for!And like someone said on here, if your charging so little that means you dont think that much of your work?

My opinion is that if you charge a fair price, have a good product, and give the customer what they ask for...or more...than you don't really have to worry about what other people are doing.

Some people think that because I am located in a wealthy area of our city that I charge more. Wrong! I try not to nickel and dime things. You need to educate your customers about what you include for the price. I would hope that the customer looks at the bottom line of a quote....not just at a price per serving.

When people call me and all they want to know is what my price is per serving I immediately suspect that they are just price shopping...not looking for a quality product. I try to tell them that the best way to get a price is to have an idea of what you want in a cake, then get the total cost for that cake. I explain that many places have extra fees that could be tacked onto the price of a cake.

As for people having dummy cakes or others decorator's work in their portfolio or website, my feeling is that goes around comes around. If they can not do the work they advertise, it will come back to haunt them.

Just do your best work, be honest and fair, and stay true to yourself and you will be okay.

[quote="classiccake"]My opinion is that if you charge a fair price, have a good product, and give the customer what they ask for...or more...than you don't really have to worry about what other people are doing.

Some people think that because I am located in a wealthy area of our city that I charge more. Wrong! I try not to nickel and dime things. You need to educate your customers about what you include for the price. I would hope that the customer looks at the bottom line of a quote....not just at a price per serving.

[quote]

I agree with this to a certain extent, but if you don't watch to see what the market is doing in your area then you're missing out on some very basic information. You could be pricing things too low, not only too high.

There are plenty of bait-and-switch bakers around here, and it drives me nuts. I'm the first to say that I'm booked up every weekend and turn people away all the time, so this isn't a sour grapes thing "they're takign my business". As a result of the lowballing that goes on, I spend way too much time trying to tell people why other bakeries aren't giving them what they say they are while trying to be diplomatic about it, and it's a waste of my time.

People DO just look at a price-per-serving when comparing bakers, that's the unit that they know to look at. When people enter the market with artificially low prices that are intended to draw customers in, everyone who has their pricing set at reasonable levels and doesn't nickel and dime them looks more expensive as a result.